KSNF/KODE — A designation for McDonald County comes just in time for storm season.
The “National Weather Service” in Springfield officially recognizes the county as a “Storm Ready Community.”
The title means several criteria have been met.
Those include :
- Having a 24-hour emergency operations center
- Multiple ways to receive severe weather alerts
- A system that monitors the weather
- Promoting public readiness
- Developing a formal hazardous weather plan.
County leaders are proud of the achievement because less than half of Missouri’s other counties have this recognition.
“It is the thirty-eighth county in the state of Missouri that has achieved this the ability to receive information from the weather service to share it within the community and then also to work within the community to prepare for things like tornados floods and winter storms it helps to mitigate the hazards and hopefully reduce what mother nature can do to us here in Missouri,” said Steve Runnels, NWS Springfield WCM.
“Well as you can tell when I was talking earlier I got a little emotional because it is passion, you know, for serving and you know I appreciate, and like I said this wouldn’t be possible without all the volunteers that help out during the severe weather and so it is overwhelming,” said Gregg Sweeten, McDonald County Emergency Management Director.
The county also received two signs to place in the community to let residents know about the designation.
